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Immigration Act, 2002 (Act No. 13 of 2002)

Enforcement and Monitoring

35. Duties with regard to conveyances

 

(1) Save for exceptional circumstances necessitating otherwise, no person in charge of a conveyance shall cause that conveyance to enter the Republic at any place other than at a port of entry.

 

(2)
(a) The owner or person in charge of a prescribed conveyance entering into, departing from or in transit through the Republic, shall comply with the provisions of this section by enabling electronic transmission and receipt of the prescribed information to the Director-General in the prescribed manner.
(b) The owner or person in charge of a conveyance entering into, departing from or in transit through the Republic, shall within the prescribed period prior to boarding persons onto his or her conveyance, electronically transmit the prescribed information to the Director-General in respect of each person.
(c) The owner or person in charge of a conveyance shall act in accordance with a boarding advice issued by the Director-General in respect of each person contemplated in paragraph (b).

 

(3)
(a) The owner or person in charge of a conveyance entering into, departing from or in transit through the Republic by air or conveying persons on domestic flights within the Republic, shall comply with the provisions of this section by enabling electronic transmission of the prescribed passenger name record information in respect of all persons booked to travel on his or her conveyance to the Director-General in the prescribed manner.
(b) The owner or person contemplated in paragraph (a) shall, within the prescribed period prior to the scheduled time of departure of his or her conveyance, electronically transmit the prescribed passenger name record information to the Director-General in the prescribed manner.
(c) The information contemplated in paragraph (a) shall be used by the Director-General for the better achievement of the objectives of this Act and the Director-General shall adopt prescribed measures to safeguard the protection of that information in accordance with legislation governing the protection of personal information.

 

(4) An immigration officer or other authorised person employed by the Director-General may—
(a) board any conveyance which is entering or has entered into any port of entry and on good cause shown prohibit or regulate disembarkation from, or the offloading of, such conveyance in order to ascertain the status or citizenship of its passengers; and
(b) request the person in control of a port of entry or any person acting under his or her authority to order the person in charge of a conveyance to park, moor or anchor that conveyance in such port of entry at such distance from the shore or landing place or in such position as such immigration officer or other authorised person employed by the Director-General may direct.

 

(5) The person in charge of a conveyance entering or prior to entering a port of entry shall upon demand deliver to an immigration officer-
(a) a list stating—
(i) the names of all passengers on board of that conveyance, classified according to their respective destinations; and
(ii) such other details as may be prescribed;
(b) a list of stowaways, if any have been found;
(c) a list of the crew and all other persons, other than passengers and stowaways, employed, carried or present on the conveyance; and
(d) a return, under the hand of the medical officer of that conveyance or, if there is no such medical officer, under the hand of the person in charge of a conveyance himself or herself, stating-
(i) any cases of disease, whether infectious or otherwise, which have occurred or are suspected to have occurred upon the voyage;
(ii) the names of the persons who suffered or are suffering from such disease;
(iii) details of any birth or death which occurred upon the voyage between such port of entry and a previous port; and
(iv) any other prescribed matter or event:
(v) Provided that such immigration officer may—
(aa) exempt from the requirements of this subsection the master of a ship destined for any other port in the Republic, subject to compliance with the duty to deliver such lists or return at such port and with any directive such immigration officer may issue to the master; and
(bb) if satisfied that a name should be added to or deleted from any such lists, authorise such addition or deletion.
(e) a list of all the children on board of the conveyance indicating which children are unaccompanied.

[Section 35(5)(e) inserted by section 48 of Act No. 7 of 2013]

 

(5A) If an immigration officer has reason to believe that any passenger on board the conveyance is a victim of trafficking, he or she must immediately report the matter, in terms of section 18(1) or 19(1) of the Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act, 2013, to a police official

[Section 35(5A) inserted by section 48 of Act No. 7 of 2013]

 

(6) If a conveyance arrives at a port of entry with a passenger on board bound for a destination outside the Republic and that passenger is not on board when the conveyance leaves such port of entry and has not been admitted, the person in charge or the owner of that conveyance shall forfeit a sum fixed by the immigration officer within a prescribed limit.

 

(7) An immigration officer may require the person in charge of a conveyance to muster the crew of such conveyance on the arrival of such conveyance in any port of entry and again before it leaves such port of entry.

 

(8) The competent officer of customs at any port of entry may refuse to give to the person in charge of a conveyance clearance papers to leave that port of entry, unless he or she has complied with this Act and produced a certificate issued by an immigration officer to that effect.

 

(9) A person in charge of a conveyance shall ensure that any foreigner conveyed to a port of entry, for purposes of travelling to a foreign country, holds a valid passport and transit visa or port of entry visa, if required.

 

(10) A person in charge of a conveyance shall be responsible for the detention and removal of a person conveyed if such person is refused admission in the prescribed manner, as well as for any costs related to such detention and removal incurred by the Department.

 

[Section 35 amended by section 21 of Immigration Amendment Act, 2011 (Act No. 13 of 2011)]